Bethel vs Northwestern 11-8-19

My first official game of this 2019-20 season found me over at Ericksen Center on the campus of the University of Northwestern as the host Eagles out of the UMAC got ready to host nearby neighbor Bethel of the MIAC.  This is a very young Northwestern team with only two seniors while Bethel really wasn't much different with only one senior and peppered with juniors, sophomores and freshmen so I knew this would be an interesting opportunity to see which young faces might stand out in this contest.

The Eagles got off to a solid start in this one, building an early 6-2 lead as slender sophomore guard Brooklyn DeKam started things off with a lay-up that drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" at the 9:40 mark of the opening period.  Junior guard Jordan Sauve would drill a "3" from the right top area at the 9:01 mark as well before the Royals finally got some noticeable offense going.  Newcomer freshman guard Kat Brown-Erdal drained a "3" from the right top area as the shot clock was expiring at the 7:40 mark and junior reserve guard Michaela Craigan banged home a "3" as well from the right wing off the glass at the 5:52 mark to give Bethel their first lead of the evening at 8-6.  Northwestern would get things tied up at 8 a piece on a lay-up by sophomore point guard Kelsea Lund at the 5:27 mark but the Royals would build a three-point advantage on one Craigan free throw at the 5:03 mark and less than a minute later, Brown-Erdal struck like a thief in the night with her steal in the backcourt and quick lay-up with 4:33 to give Bethel an 11-8 advantage.  The Eagles would manage to knot the game again on two free throws by senior forward Rio Landers with 3:32 left and one more by Sauve with 2:49 left before the visitors just down the road would take a 14-11 lead on a three-point bomb from the right wing area by sophomore reserve guard Erin Tupy with :42 left.

Scoring would come at something of a premium for a good chunk of the second period and part of that was because Bethel was trying to figure out how to attack the "match-up" zone that Eagles Head Coach Aaron Kahl normally employs on defense.  Northwestern would manage to grab a five-point lead as DeKam would connect with a short, turnaround jumper off the glass at the 8:59 mark and a jumper from the left elbow area by Lund at the 6:32 mark gave the Eagles a 15-14 advantage.  Sophomore reserve forward Megan Roberts would connect with a lay-up at the 5:56 mark to push Northwestern's lead to 17-14 and two DeKam freebies with 3:48 left made it a 19-15 game before the Royals finally dusted off the cobwebs forming on their basket.  Freshman reserve forward Emma Schultz uncorked a '3" from the right corner that cut the Bethel deficit down to one point at 19-18 and then senior forward Taite Anderson snared an offensive rebound for a putback to push the Royals back out in front 20-19.  Northwestern would come right back to reclaim the lead on a Sauve lay-up with 2:15 left but the Eagles were unable to hold onto the lead as Bethel junior forward Makenna Pearson drained a "3" from the right wing off of an inbounds pass with 1:30 left to make it a 23-21 ballgame.  Northwestern would come right back on their ensuing possession as a score in the paint by Landers with 1:10 left had things deadlocked at 23-all.  Both teams would trade one free throws over the next twenty seconds that had this one tied at 24 a piece and although the Royals would manage to take a 27-24 lead into the locker room at the half on the strength of a Pearson "3" from the top of the key with :22 left, the Eagles Kahl had to feel relatively good at the moment as they were hanging right with one of the top teams in the MIAC.

But any of the "good" feelings that Kahl and his staff may have had during the halftime break quickly went out the window once the third period commenced as Bethel not only went on a game-changing 17-0 blitzkrieg but turned the screws on their trademark defense that all but shut out the Eagles in a remarkable third period.  Taite Anderson would first connect with a lay-up at the 9:05 mark and when fellow senior point guard Haylee Barker drilled a "3" from the left wing area a bit later at the 8:46 mark that suddenly made it an eight-point game at 32-24, Northwestern's Kahl quickly called a timeout in hopes of making some quick adjustments that would put a halt to this onslaught but the Royals were smelling blood and had no intention of letting up on the gas pedal.  Forcing several turnovers and making the halfcourt-minded Eagles play and up-and-down game, things quickly spiraled out of control for the home team.  Barker would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 7:05 mark and two free throws by Taite Anderson at the 6:30 mark got Bethel's lead to double-digits at 36-24.  Junior reserve forward Elizabeth Schwarz muscled into the paint for one score at the 5:20 mark and would add one free throw with 4:14 left to get the Royals lead to 39-24.  Tupy would get a look from behind the arc in the left corner and casually drain a "3" with 3:05 left and a Pearson lay-up in transition with 2:15 left now had Bethel up twenty at 44-24 before the Eagles could finally dust off the cobwebs forming on their basket on one Landers freebie with :32 left but the damage was already done and asking Northwestern to recover from this deluge was simply a bridge too far.   

And the Royals continued to lay more wood to their opponent in the opening minutes of the fourth period that widened the gap further.  Pearson banged home a "3" from the right top area at the 9:46 mark and a routine score in the paint by Taite Anderson at the 9:15 mark ballooned Bethel's lead to 49-25.  Junior guard Bella Williams finally got into the books with her three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 7:36 mark to make it a 52-25 ballgame before the Eagles could finally stop this latest round of bleeding on a score in the paint by junior forward Miranda Crenshaw at the 7:25 mark.  The Royals answered this with a 6-0 burst as Taite Anderson connected with a lay-up in transition at the 7:15 mark and Barker drove into the lane for finish off the glass at the 6:33 mark to make it 56-27.  Still another Taite Anderson score down low at the 6:14 mark made it 58-27 that pretty much made things academic at this point.  Northwestern would get a short, turnaround jumper from DeKam at the 5:31 mark and Lund would drop a pair of free throws at the 5:02 mark but none of this was going to affect the outcome of the game at this point.  Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer would gradually start inserting his reserves into the game in the final minutes.  Craigan would uncork a "3" from the top of the key off the glass with 4:50 left and a score in the paint by Schwarz with 3:42 left had Bethel safely up 65-32.  Schwarz would add another score in the paint with 1:39 left and sophomore reserve guard Jennifer Hicks would connect with a lay-up with 1:07 left.  Fellow sophomore reserve forward Megan Boegel would add a lay-up in transition with :22 left as the Royals breezed to a resounding 71-37 victory. 

Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer told me afterward that it really wasn't so much about making any adjustments during the halftime break.  Rather, it was a matter of going out and executing the gameplan he and his staff had laid out for this one.  And it was clear that once the Royals started executing it, this one was in the bag.  I also spoke briefly with Bethel's Barker afterward who was beaming after this win and she couldn't help but admit how fun it was to be able to play defense the way she and her team did tonight.  And once the Royals get the heat turned up on their trademark defense, it can simply suffocate opponents.  Northwestern's Kahl had to concede that once the heat got turned up on his team, it really took them out of what they had hoped to do.  That and the fact that Kahl has begun tinkering with things on the offensive side this season as well could mean some time for adjustment for this squad.  Pearson led the way for Bethel on this night with her 14 points while Taite Anderson was right behind with her 13 points.  But the Royals also had nine other players contributing on the scoring front on this night.  Northwestern meanwhile was led by DeKam's 14 points.  A close check of the final box score shows that the 38 turnovers that the Eagles were guilty of on this night led to their demise on this night with a majority of those coming in the second half.  Bethel also had a decided edge on the glass at 29-21 and Northwestern only had two offensive rebounds on this night.  Moreover, the Eagles shot only 10-29 from FG range for an icy 34.5%.